Don Bosco – Karaikal Brief History of the House
The seeds of Christianity were sown here about 300 years ago by the Mission Etrangeres De Paris (M.E.P. Fathers). People became Christians perhaps allured by the relief measures provided by these missionaries. The priests of Karaikal parish could scarcely cater to the spiritual needs of the faithful of more than 40 villages, and hence the birth of Thennangudy mission. On November 15th, 2000, Rt. Rev. Michael Augustine, then Bishop of Pondicherry–Cuddalore, declared Thennangudy a parish and Fr. Job David as the Parish-priest. Thennangudy parish consists of 17 villages with 14 sub-stations having chapels. There are more than 550 Catholic families in this new parish, and most of them are economically poor. The first 2 years were spent in Thennangudy village itself. Then the Salesians moved over to Thamanangudy at the farm house. In the meantime, the Province of Chennai decided to start a College of Education & Research Centre and a Teacher Training Institute to cater to the educational needs of the poor youth of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry. Rev. Fr. Bellarmine, the then Provincial, entrusted the job of initiating this project to Fr. Susai Lourdusamy, Fr. John Louis and Fr. David Job. Soon 25 acres of land was bought at Thamanangudy, and the construction began. On the 25th of November 2005, the Don Bosco College of Education and the Don Bosco Teacher Training Institute was blessed and inaugurated for the good of the poor and needy youth. This house was canonically erected in May 2006, with Fr Susai Lourdusamy as its first Rector and Correspondent. A qualified layman, Mr Etienne Joseph, has been appointed as the first Principal, pending the availability of a qualified Salesian.
Sacred Heart Parish
Presently, this Parish, bifurcated from Karaikal Parish, consists of 577 families in 17 villages grouped under 14 substations Except Arulmozhidevan substation, all the other villages are in the Karaikal region. When the Parish was created, the chapel of Thennangudy was in a dilapidated condition. A house with a thatched roof was rented, which served as the presbytery. In 2001, 4 acres of land was bought ¼ kms from the old church, and a new church building was planned. It will be blessed on 3rd December 2006. At present, only 8 anbiams exist and function in 4 substations. As each substation follows a system like that of the ‘Panchayat’ to manage its own affairs, people have not felt the need of anbiams. Since not all substations have Mass on Sundays, Catechism class is conducted before the mass every time mass is celebrated. Carmelite Sisters help in conducting catechism class. Lay volunteers to teach catechism are very few. There are a few conversions, mostly for the sake of marriage. An ad hoc Parish Committee comprises 18 members. The Parish has a youth group called Don Bosco Youth Association that meets once a month, and is very active in the substations but not at the parish level. The association of altar servers was functioning from the time of taking over the parish. The members too are active in their respective substations. There are scout units in 4 substations; they are quite active and have regular fortnightly meetings. Unemployment is the main social problem in the parish. Self-Help Groups, under the guidance of a lay woman coordinator appointed by Vazhikaatti, is fast picking up among women. In a few villages, Self-Help Groups are started with Youth. Direct evangelization is not possible in most places as they are strong Hindu/Muslim Centers. In some places, Protestants are also very strong, and some Catholics succumb to their promise of financial assistance. Since the Parish has many substations, distant from each other and somewhat varied in culture and customs, a different type of coordination of activities has to be worked out, wherein the individual character of each village is kept intact. After the tsunami of December 2004, emergency relief work was started for the worst affected, which today has grown into a non-formal vocational training centre with 6 trades. For this purpose, a new building is under construction near the Parish Church.
Don Bosco College of Education and Research Centre and Don Bosco Teacher Training Institute (B.Ed. & D.T.Ed.)
The strength of the B.Ed and D.T.Ed students is as follows: Course Year Boys Girls Catholics Christians Hindus Muslims B.Ed 05-06 T (100) 34 66 45 03 47 05 06-07 T (94) 34 60 35 01 58 – D.T.Ed I. Year T (96) 22 74 41 01 54 – II. Year T (97) 23 74 50 02 45 – Most of the students are of the low income groups and from rural areas. On every First Friday of the month, the Holy Eucharist is celebrated for Catholic students with the possibility for them to approach the Sacrament of Reconciliation. For non-Catholics, talks, skits and songs on moral and religious values are given by some staff and students. Catechism classes and Value Education are held once a week. In Lent, Catholic students animate the Stations of the Cross. There is a plan to provide opportunities to Catholic students to know more about the call to priesthood and religious life. At the morning assembly, there is a daily reading of the Bible and a short commentary on the same. Retreats and animation talks are conducted for College lecturers, teachers, students and domestic workers. Entrepreneurial job-oriented teacher education programmes will be organized by the management for the D.T.Ed and B.Ed students by the end of April 2007. Opportunities are given to students to develop their leadership qualities. The house system is functioning well. Groups, such as choir, instrumental music, athletics, basket ball and literary association are conducted well. There are 43 staff members employed (31 are teaching staff members). The PTA and Alumni are ready to help in all College activities. N.S.S has started for the D.T.Ed students this year. However, most of the students are not exposed to team work, and hence group formation of the students needs special attention. Students also need to be motivated to be of service to the society by way of environment cleaning, tree planting, adult literacy programme, and neighborhood apostolate right through the year.
Hostels
The community runs two hostels, one for boys and the other for girls. In the boys hostel there are 49 inmates (21 D.T.Ed. and 28 B.Ed.), in the girls’ hostel 105 inmates (75 D.T.Ed. and 30 B.Ed.). They are temporarily housed in the College (the girls) and in the Salesian residence (the boys) until the hostels are built. They have Morning Prayer, daily mass and rosary and the goodnight talk. They also have weekly adoration, monthly recollection and opportunities for confession every First Thursday. An annual retreat for Catholics is also being planned. There is an urgent need to build the 2 hostels.
Farm
The house owns 42 acres of prime farm land, on which the main crop cultivated is paddy because of the condition of the soil. Water is abundant. Machines are used harvesting. The local people are employed in the cultivation of the land and they are paid just wages. A Salesian Brother looks after the farm. All the agricultural requirements are provided by the Administrator of the community.
Chaplaincy
The community offers chaplaincy service once a week to the Carmelite Sisters of Sellur and to the Pondy Blue Sisters.
karaikal@donboscochennai.org
Don Bosco B.Ed., College
& D.T.Ed.Inst.,
Thamanangudy,
Ambagarathur(P.O.),
KARAIKAL – 609 601
Cell – 94431 56365
